Skin colour

Hair colour

Related to

Native range

Distinction

Status

"Veela are semi-human magical beings; beautiful women with white-gold hair and skin that appears to shine moon-bright. When angry, Veela take on a less pleasant appearance; their faces elongate into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long scaly wings burst from their shoulders."

The Veela are a race of semi-human, semi-magical humanoids reminiscent of the Sirens of Greek mythology. Little is known about their biology; they appear to be young, beautiful humans. Their looks and especially their dance is magically seductive to almost all male beings, which causes them to perform strange actions in order to get nearer to them.

Contents

Nature

Veela are thought to have their own type of magic which does not require a wand. When Veela are angry, however, they transform into something more like Harpies — their faces turn into cruel-beaked bird heads while long scaly wings burst from their shoulders, and they can launch balls of fire from their hands. Veela seem to be quite an irascible race. For example, in the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, they were easily wound up by the Leprechauns, resulting in a fight between both teams' mascots on the pitch. The Veela then got sent away.

Veela hair

Veela hair is a magical substance, suitable as a core for wand manufacture. Renowned wandmakerGarrick Ollivander noted that he personally never uses it, as the product tends to be temperamental.[1]Fleur Delacour's wand contains a single hair from her Veela grandmother. This seems rather ironic as ancient stories state that if a single hair is plucked from a Veela's head they will die or disfigure, although it is possible that the hair was not obtained by plucking but may have fallen out.[1]

Cross-breeding with humans

Fleur Delacour was quarter-Veela

Veela have been known to marry wizards, although it is unknown whether any have married Muggles. Children of these unions are half-Veela, and they will inherit magical ability from their fathers and beauty and charm from their mothers. Veela traits seem to persist for at least a few generations (examples being Apolline Delacour, and her daughters Fleur and Gabrielle).

Behind the scenes

Veela (or les Wilis in French) are featured in the ballet, Giselle[1].

Veela are nymph-like creatures in Slavic mythology, who live in bodies of water and have power and ability over storms. They may be the ghosts of women who drowned, especially those who were betrayed by their lovers. They often appear as beautiful women, but are known to morph into swans, snakes, horses, or wolves. Their mystical, seductive speaking and singing voices hypnotise those who hear them, and they are fierce warriors. Interestingly, given that Fleur Delacour's wand has a hair from her Veela grandmother, it is said in some legends that if even one of their hairs is plucked, a Veela will either die or be forced to change into a non-human shape. Veela are main features of Bulgarian and Serbian folklore such as the story of Marko Kraljevic and the Veela (archive link). Also see The Ballads of Maraco Kraljevic (English translation).

One of the questions on the 2nd Level W.O.M.B.A.T. asks the examinee to identify which of five given statements is false; one of these claims that full-blooded male Veela do not exist.